One of the benefits of owning your own small business, especially in our industry which is basically creative and technology, is the ability to make choices on tools and software based solely on their own merit.

So this week I thought I would share my bag of tricks; that is, the tools I use to run our little creative agency. All of these tools are either free to use , or no more than $20 a month. As you consider this list, you may ask, how do I keep track of all of these tools and how do they integrate? With a couple of exceptions, they for the most part essentially don’t (or at least not until the “next release”). Anyone who has known me for years, especially during my time as an IT Director might be surprised to learn that I am not using a suite of tools that integrate.

Here is what it comes down to – these recent internet startups whom are focusing on a niche are very good at what they do. Continue reading »